The Poinsettia remains a favorite plant for the holidays. Plants, like people, sometimes make a…
Victorian Dahlia ‘White Aster’ Still Shines
Victorian dahlia ‘White Aster’ still shines.
The online garden business called Old House Gardens works with twenty-one growers in fifteen states to provide it’s tubers and bulbs.
The Sun Moon Farm in Rindge, New Hampshire supplies some of it’s dahlia tubers.
Recently I drove to Rindge to check out Sun Moon Farm, and, of course, see its dahlia field.
No fancy sign welcomes you to this CSA working farm. During the growing season the farm supplies vegetables to households in NH as well as Cambridge, Massachusetts.
At Sun Moon I found many dahlias in bloom.
The rows of dahlias seemed to go on forever. [below]
A dahlia I was in search of was the dahlia ‘White Aster,’ first offered for sale in 1879.
That makes it, according to the Old House Gardens’ catalog, “the world’s oldest surviving garden dahlia.”
I was amazed at the long row of ‘White Asters’ I saw that morning. Magnificent. [below]
This dahlia shines with its hundreds of small, ivory globes, making it a treasured pompon type which just might add that white color you need in a late summer bouquet.
A letter about white dahlias appeared in Rochester, New York seedsman James Vick’s magazine Vick’s Illustrated Monthly in 1879.
A customer wrote, “For four years I have grown dahlias in my garden…
“Last spring I wanted a white one and mother bought me a root for twenty-five cents. When it had flowers in September, it was the prettiest thing I ever saw.
“The flowers were not half as large as my old ones, just as pretty as could be, and didn’t look much like Dahlias, but more like Asters.
“This plant was the nicest plant I had, for there were, I guess, hundreds of flowers”
In response Vick wrote the following: “There are plenty of the small Dahlias, and of all colors that can be desired, except the long sought blue.
“There are two very good white sorts White Aster and Little Snowball.
“This class of Dahlias is called Pompon or Bouquet, and bears great numbers of flowers, from one to two inches in diameter.”
Vick recommended ‘White Aster’ but also recognized the importance of dahlias for the fall garden.
He wrote, “The dahlia is our best autumn flower. We can depend upon it until frost, no matter how long delayed.”
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Hi, I am with the Longmeadow Gardeners and we reached out to you last year to be a speaker for us. I do not remember why it did not happen, perhaps the dates did not line up but we are wondering if you might be available for us this year. We are looking for a speaker on May 20th at our town library at 6 p.m. You had a presentation on dahlias that I think would be lovely and just in time to plan . Let me know.
Thanks,
Hello Craig, hope we can connect soon. I am avaialbe on May 20 to give the talk on dahlias called “The History of Growing and Selling Dahlias.” Look forward to hearing from you soon.